#off topic but Xemnas was such an important character for me when i was younger

[nerdsandqueens]

Thank you taking the time to explain the difference. I hadn't finished Veilguard yet myself when I saw all the "Mythal abused Solas" posts, so it was hard not to view everything she did through the lens of manipulation, especially considering how Flemeth treated Morrigan and how that affected her.

Ex: Morrigan waiting until a moment of desperation for the HOF to tell them about the dark ritual. Love her, but she was kind of wrong for that and I wouldn't be surprised if she'd learned that kind of behavior from Flemeth.

But honestly thinking more on the situation and Solas's character, it makes complete sense to me that he would make similar decisions regardless of Mythal's influence because he's not one to stand by and let suffering play out saying, "Well, I'm not involved so it's not my fault." (Though he takes blame for stuff that isn't his fault regardless.) He's always going to be the one to take action to try to change things.

I feel like part of him saying he's "minimizing the damage" to Varric is him justifying tearing down the veil now and making change now as opposed to waiting a few more centuries for more blights to come and the last Evanuris to fall and the veil falling anyway. (Maybe this was also in the game, but I honestly rushed through it bc I was renting someone else's computer so I missed stuff for sure-)

Anyways, sorry for rambling. I just appreciate your explanation and I love the egg wolf.

Flemeth's treatment of Morrigan was horrendous. That's one thing I remember about Origins. And it seems the writers did retcon that for the new lore. I remember reading that they said now that Flemeth never intended to possess Morrigan, despite that being the vibe back in Origins. I do like Flemythal/Mythal tho so I like the lighter characterization, but it is a tad of whiplash.

I mean no offense with this bit, but it is a touchy subject for me. I'm not sure what you mean about Morrigan being in the wrong about the god baby situation. The entire situation is such grim dark squick. I can't imagine being in her position, especially having to have sex with a man she doesn't even like if it's Alistair. That is such a skin crawling situation for a woman to be in. And it's always a plot line I hated. There was a lot of sexual victimization of women in Origins that I will never ignore about that game. City elf origin will always be an unpleasant memory. Now that I know that Dragon Age Origins took some inspiration in tone from A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones, I'm not surprised. But I wish I knew ahead of time because these stories stay in my system for a very long time. And puts me in an unpleasant headspace.

As for Solas. It seems like he was intended to not even come off as sympathetic as he does - judging by the recent ama on reddit. But at this point I prefer to rely on his characterization in Inquisition where he did seem to believe he was doing right. It reminds me of Xemnas' characterization in KH2 only for the final game to pose him as doing everything he's done just because he's evil. I prefer the philosopher interpretation for him. Even though he's supposed to be utterly irredeemable.

Thanks for the ask!